‘Stranger’ Theme, Russo, Beal Emmy Winners

Composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein accept their Emmys for the theme music to Netflix’s Stranger Things. (Photo: Invision/AP)

Jeff Beal has collected his fifth Emmy, winning composition for a series for his House of Cards score, while the third time proved a charm for Jeff Russo, who collected his first Emmy for Fargo in the limited series category tonight at the 2017 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, night two, at the Microsoft Theater.

Beal has received 17 career nominations, more than any other contender in the music category with the exception of Tina Fey (who received a nomination for a song from Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt). She lost to Common and co-writers Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggs for “Letter to the Free” during round one of Creative Arts Emmys, handed out Saturday night.

In the extremely competitive theme music category, first-time nominees Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon won for Netflix’s Stranger Things. In what was a historic Emmy for music with the addition of a new category for music supervisors, Susan Jacobs won for HBO’s Big Little Lies.

“The way Noah writes these characters makes it so easy to do my job, because the characters are so well-written and the dialogue is so great and the characters are so great, I get to really dig-in to the characters of the show,” Beal said on the red carpet during the arrivals, sharing that the theme to Welcome Back Kotter is his favorite.

In an interview on his way in to the ceremony, Beal shared that the secret to his style is “the method acting version of composing: if I start to feel it, I believe it.” Beal articulated the subtle undertones a great score can provide. “The weird thing about film music is it’s supporting everything that’s going on but it wants to be a part of that world. Music often describes the things that people aren’t saying. It’s sort of the undercurrent of a show, the subterranean emotional current. House of Cards has so many layers. It’s often very dark, but it’s also funny, and serendipitous and subversive. It’s also human, there’s moments of humanity.”

Night one of 2017 Creative Arts Emmys also took place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. A highlights telecast of the 2017 Creative Arts Emmys will air on FXX at 9 p.m. Sept. 16, on the eve of the 69th Emmy Awards on Sept. 17, airing live starting at 5 p.m. PT on CBS.